Review: Oasis of the Seas 4/17 - 4/24

[bctoboston]

Oasis of the Seas

4/17/10 - 4/24/10

 

I’ll try to keep this brief... although I have to say I loved the Oasis so much, it will be a bit hard. It was the most wonderful week. There of course are always negatives to every situation, every vacation, every ship, but I can’t think on one instance where any of the negative outweighed the unbelievable positives of the “incredible Oasis”. I was traveling with my husband (we’re in our 30s) and my mother and brother (in his 20s).

 

 

Travel details - flights set up by RCI, direct American Airlines from Boston to Miami and then a 20 minute shuttle bus ride right to the pier. Home a little more difficult, almost 12 hours to get back to Boston from FLL, by design. Ah well.

 

Embarkation - Oasis, by far, has the smoothest embarkation process I’ve encountered so far. No lines, just get your stuff and get on board and to your room. We were on board and in our rooms by 1pm.

 

Stateroom - Superior Oceanview Balcony, bed by the balcony. Nice set up, love the glassed in balconies. Re-done bathrooms are very nice. We had plenty of room for all our stuff. The new flatscreen tv’s do pivot so their bizarre placement didn’t bother us at all. We did notice it got a bit warm in there sometimes, but we always made sure the thermostat was on “coldest” (sometimes they’d turn it to neutral).

 

Day 1 - in Port. Our first stop, the much-talked about Park Cafe. I see why this place, simple as it may be, has gotten so much play. It’s perfect and tasty and easy. Had the roast beef, very yummy. The paninis are excellent. However, it’s their breakfast I love the most. Creative little simple, egg sandwiches, great bagel bar, fairly quiet which I loved.

We always start the cruise off with champagne, so we headed to the larger, redone and very pretty champagne bar to start it off right. It’s a bonus that it’s right by one of the gangways so we could watch people come in.

My husband and I hit the cantilevered hot tub.... I love those things and honestly, for a lot of the cruise, they were not crowded whatsoever.

Day 1 dinner- MDR. Some people have been disappointed in the MDR food... it was as good as, or better, than the other RCI cruises we’ve been on. Service was great, food very yummy.

We love ourselves some of the casino - there is a smoking and non-smoking side.

Another great quiet place where we finished off Day 1 - the egg chairs up in the Solarium. Quiet at night... beautiful little spot.

 

Day 2 - Nassau, Bahamas

So glad they flipped this and started off here... much better idea. Breakfast at Solarium Bistro. Very yummy, healthy, didn’t leave feeling full and it was nice and quiet on this day. We took our time this morning, then just decided to walk around Nassau. We walked towards the lighthouse, nice little public beach past town. We had a couple of Kaliks (like that Bahamian beer) and relaxed. Nothing exciting, but nice to stretch the legs more... and we headed back to Oasis. Oasis was docked next to the Star Princess and the Majesty of the Seas. Very cool to see where RCI has come after all these years from the Sovereign Class to now.

It was Chops for dinner tonight. I had read some mixed reviews, but I think this might have been my favorite meal of the trip. Central Park is gorgeous tonight, and definitely one of my favorite additions for this glass. It was actually raining a bit that night, which made it very neat to watch from the Chops windows. It was quiet at chops, the service amazing, and my filet mignon perfect.

 

Day 3 - At Sea

Breakfast was at the Windjammer. Food was good, however I wasn’t thrilled with the new set-up. Stations are in little pods now which seemed to create a lot of traffic. It wasn’t awful, but it was busy and finding a seat next to impossible. We’d come back one more time on the trip, but there are so many other options, it wasn’t a highlight for us.

This was a day at the Solarium for my husband and I. We found two lounge chairs easily, facing the huge windows and the great view. This was a super-relaxing spot. I love how large and how serene it is on this ship. Had a snack/lunch in the Solarium Bistro - very yummy ginger chicken with carrots and almonds... hummus and olive tapenade and pita.

My husband played a lot of pool volleyball and regular volleyball on this trip and had a blast. The sports staff were absolutely great.

He tried the infamous pretzel dog from the Wipeout Cafe, very tasty. They also have make-your-own tacos/nachos there which proved yummy and popular as well.

Dinner was at Giovanni’s tonight which also proved fabulous. Loved the papardelle pasta... definitely a highlight. It’s a lot louder in there than Chops, definitely a different atmosphere, but very fun.

We caught the midnight comedy show (no reservations needed) and it was really funny. We had a lot of laughs, very funny.

 

 

Day 4 - St Thomas.

Up early, ready to head out on the Jost Van Dyke excursion booked through RCI.

Breakfast at Park Cafe - little breakfast burritos are tasty... as was the asparagus, provolone and egg sandwich I had, brought it all back to the room to enjoy on our balcony as we pulled into port. I can’t recommend the Jost Van Dyke excursion highly enough. Beautiful!! You’re put onto a boat, first brought to Christmas Cove for some great snorkeling, and then off to Jost Van Dyke (a BVI). A quick stop at the main bay for immigration (captain takes your passport ashore, we all got to swim if we wanted), and then you’re brought to Great White Bay for 2 and a half hours on your own. The Soggy Dollar Bar is one of the big attractions there, and if you look at their website you see why this place is perfect. Hardly anyone lived on Jost Van Dyke year round. Water is perfect blue, the beach filled with cute beach bars. We found a table, chowed down on conch fritters and flying fish, washing it all down with the local drink... a painkiller. My husband and I found a great hammock and settled in, life is good. Now, you do have to either be ok with swimming a couple of a hundred feet to shore from the boat, or they were able to dingy a few people back and forth. The ride back to St Thomas is about 40 minutes. Let’s just say after one too many painkillers and a lot of sun... I retreated to the cabin for the evening with some sandwiches from cafe promenade (still great for snacks) and some much needed R&R. The husband went to the casino and won some money on craps... yay!

 

Day 5 - St Maarten.

Leisurely morning for us with some sleeping in and breakfast at the Park Cafe again. We booked the Rhino Riders through RCI and they were a whole ton of fun. My husband, brother and I took part. These things go pretty fast, and you see a good amount of scenery of the island from them before you settle for about 45 minutes a beautiful little beach on the french side (parents, warning, it is a nude beach in case they don’t tell you in advance ;-) ). A fun excursion and we got the bus driver to drop us off in downtown Phillipsburg since we had about 90 minutes until we had to get back on the Oasis. There’s a great, little place, run by nice folks from Ontario, Canada on the boardwalk there called the Get Wet Beach Bar. My husband is Canadian and we stumbled on this place last time. Great spot for a nice, cold beer and a snack. Took the water taxi back to the pier (15 minute walk, or $4 (one-way, $6 round-trip) on the water taxi).

Dinner was at 150 Central Park. Very good food, lovely presentation. I would not, however, do it again. It was truly beautiful, but I thought our meals at Chops and Giovannis were actually tastier and a lot more fun. It’s all in what you like, however. The food was very good, but I think once was enough for us.

 

 

Day 6 - At Sea

Time to sleep in and relax a bit. Breakfast was at the Park Cafe again. We did a lot of wandering today. The spa is gorgeous... the jogging track is very nice with some hidden little spots to sit and relax.

We shopped a bit, sat by the sports pool for a bit, had some cocktails.

Lunch in the MDR today which I always think people forget about. It’s always well-done, and the selections are very good.

Dinner in the MDR was again fabulous, had the Thai BBQ chicken breast which was just perfect for how I was feeling.

We were exhausted this night, so some R&R in the cabin... with room service later. Yes, the honey stung chicken is on the room service menu and it was YUMMY!!

 

Day 7 - At Sea

So sad it was our last day. Breakfast at Park Cafe... a couple of games of bingo (which we had been playing all week. More expensive on Oasis, but we always have fun as a family playing).

We spent some time by the pools, soaking in the sun. My husband tried the flowrider and had a blast trying it out.

We wanted to try Izumi but they had no reservations but were nice enough to make us up some very yummy sushi rolls to bring back to our cabin, which we all enjoyed with a bottle of champagne on the balcony. (we were able to fit four of us with chairs very comfortably)

Final dinner in MDR... some casino afterwards... and sadly off to sleep.

 

Disembarkation - very smooth, but again (as always) we drew the EARLIEST time off the ship... with a 12:40pm flight (that was delayed), we were stuck at the airport for quite a long while.

 

Random thoughts -

Cupcakes - missed them, which made me sad, but my mom and brother said they were great.

Casino - very fun, lots of extra penny slots and fun $2 blackjack computerized tables.

Viking Crown Lounge - very beautiful on this ship, definitely worth checking out

Donut Shop - fun and yummy

Shows - we only did the comedy one... we didn’t book any of the others in advance, which made for a lot of lines if we wanted to get in. If you want to catch them, definitely book in advance.

Ice Skating - we tried out once, it was fun!

 

Food overall - fabulous.

Ship Overall - unbelievable, never felt crowded, so much to do!

 

The only issue we had was construction noise in our cabin almost every day for the duration of the trip. It was loud, but guest services definitely took care of the issue for us, which was much appreciated.

 

She’s a wonderful ship, with a lot of great people on board. Really loved it! If you made it this far, good for you!! Any questions, ask away :-)

[molly361]

Great review. We will be onboard May 8th .Do you know what time the Park Cafe opens for breakfast? Thanks

[Merc]

Great review kim, refreshing to see you were so positive, sounded like you had a blast. Less than 3 weeks and we will be on her.

[joand452]

Wonderful review! We're looking at Allure for next March, so this gives us a good idea of what to expect.

 

Do you think you would have enjoyed two weeks? We're planning on the Eastern and Western itineraries.

 

Thank you!

[molly361]

Great review kim, refreshing to see you were so positive, sounded like you had a blast. Less than 3 weeks and we will be on her.

 

We'll warm her up for you!!! We go May 8th:D:p

[tright]

Love reading your review!! We sail in September can't wait!!! All sounds fabulous

[Merc]

we'll warm her up for you!!! We go may 8th:d:p

 

 

 

sounds good molly, hope you have an fabulous cruise,

[tracyanns]

Thanks for the review...I am a review junkie...I still have a few months til we sail but hope we enjoy her as much as you did.

[FMcruiser]

Great review kim, refreshing to see you were so positive, sounded like you had a blast. Less than 3 weeks and we will be on her.

 

 

Have you signed up for the Meet and Mingle for your cruise!

If you ghave, great we'll see you on board, if you haven't you should!

 

FMcruiser Oasis 5/15/2010

[cappy09]

I have been trying to find out if the crew on the Bimini Breeze would shuttle you to shore in a dingy if you are not a strong swimmer or have a medical problem that doesn't allow you to try to make the swim. Thank you for clearing this up for me...Nice to know that a dingy is made available..Not I can put that question to rest until we sail on 5/8

[bctoboston]

Forgot to add that I would have loved to try Vintages' tapas too... my mom and brother did and said it was fabulous. :-)

 

Molly - I think Park Cafe opened 6:30am or so... but don't quote me on that.

 

Cappy - they definitely trailed the dingy the whole way. They liked it if you could do the swim, but they ferried people (and stuff so it didn't get back) back and forth. We even had someone who had a medical issue while at Jost (older lady, passed out from the sun) who ended up a-ok.

 

jo- I would have LOVED two weeks. I could have done the same islands again and have been happy too.

 

My mom and brother are going again in June, on the Western... sooo jealous.

[CGBanks]

We were on the same cruise and had a fabulous time also. People truly have to experience this ship !! I am going to get a review posted but am not nearly as timely as you've been. It was fun reading a review from the same week.

[Cruiser21]

bctoboston

 

Do you remember what time they let you get off in ST Thomas? We are doing a private boat to Jost Van Dyke and are trying to see what the earliest we can get off and grab a cab to Red Hook for our boat.

[transam84]

Thank you so much, I loved reading your review. I really like you attitude that things are rarely perfect and you have to go with the flow. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Your descriptions made me feel like I was on the ship and relaxing with you. I just booked Allure for next June. We had to cancel our Oasis cruise then our Explorer cruise this year because of a death in the family and my DM had open heart surgery. I hope the third time is a charm and all goes well and we get on Allure next year. I'm so excited. We booked an Aqua Theater suite because we are going with my DS and his girlfriend to celebrate his graduation (M.S. and B.S., belated) and want two bedrooms and baths. I have read mixed reviews abou this suite but I think it will work for us. Thanks again for a great review. Laura

[bctoboston]

Cruiser - We docked in Saint Thomas at 8:30am... off the boat by 9am. Our excursion to Jost was from 9am to 4:15pm... with a stop to snorkel on the way.

 

transam - thanks for the kind words! I hope the third time is the charm for you! I try to keep positive, because you know what, we're all lucky enough to even be blessed enough to get on board and go to these places. Many times, our so-so trips, are others' dreams. I try to keep that in mind. I can hardly be sad in the caribbean :-)

[jccruiser]

does anyone have a menu for the tapas in Vintages?:)